Tangerine Dream - Turn of the Tides

From the School of Surrealism

Edgar Froese takes a unique soundtrack route; this November 1994 release is based on his surrealist creation, The Coachman's Tales, and is a solidly guitar-driven masterpiece.

While Edgar and Jerome Froese have very expressive styles on guitar, it is the work of Zlatko Perica - lead, acoustic, rhythm - that adds a stylish signature to the work. Linda Spa - saxophones and sound design - Roland Braunstein, trumpet, the Viena Horn Ensemble and vocalists Julie Ocean and Jayney Klimek add brilliant flourishes.

But through the incredible beginning with Pictures at an Exhibition to the final piece, Story of the Brave, the leaders remain Edgar and Jerome Froese, who share the duties on keyboards, synthesizers, programming and sound design.

These a gentle tides that bring to shore a highly-stylized artistic soundscape. November 14, 2008

Best TD album in this guitarist's opinion

I LOVE this CD by Tangerine Dream. There is so much great guitar work. The acoustic and electric guitar work on Twilight Brigade, the flamenco guitar work on galley slave's horizon and firetongues. Great synth work and keyboard playing as well. This CD rocks, it may seem like smooth jazz in some places, but it is great music. One of my favorite instrumental rock albums period, up there with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Jerome Froese and Zlatko Perica did some spectacular work on this CD. There are great guitar solos on nearly every track. Some other Tangerine Dream CDs from this period are Tyranny of Beauty and Rockoon, but this one is by far the best of the bunch. This was a time when Edgar Froese was experimenting with the sound. The previous album Melrose was the first release with son Jerome involved, there was some great guitar work on a couple of tracks but it was predominantly keyboard and sax oriented. In the time between the release of Melrose and Turn of the Tides, Paul Haslinger left the band and "guest musicians" guitarist Zlatko Perica joined the band, along with saxophonist Linda Spa who had played for live shows in the early 90s. This CD is much more guitar oriented than its predecessors, but the keyboards/synth still shine.

Fans of rock music are going to love this CD. Fans of new age might not appreciate this. If you are into guitar music, or music without vocals, this CD is for you. And at Two bucks a pop for a used copy, what are you watiing for?

The only thing that could make this CD better would be the use of an actual drum kit and not the drum machine.

Other TD releases you may like: Rockoon, Tyranny of Beauty, Atlantic Bridges, Atlantic Walls. November 29, 2005

Tides & Tyranny

I like this one a lot. I used to listen to it driving to and from work several times a week. This one or Tyranny of Beauty. Have not listened much since both carried me round trip from Dallas, Texas to Kalispel, Montana via Garden of The Gods where this music belongs. TD can be wonderful in a listening room, but carries the day when the land looms large. Pick your spots. September 12, 2003

Week-old reheated dinner

Recorded in December 1993 / January 1994, "Turn of the Tides" is a sibling recording to the previous studio album, "Rockoon". It shows some improvement over that release, if only because father and son felt more in tune with each other, and with their new genre of music. This said, I would be insincere if I said that "Turn of the Tides" offers anything new. Froese family just continued composing tracks in the same vein as they did on "Rockoon", only slightly better performed. Be it as it may, the progress was stalled.

The album opens with 'Pictures at an Exhibition', a cover of Modest Mussorgsky's timeless classic. Executed very well, yes, this track has nothing to do with the rest of the album. What was the reason for its inclusion other than that of showing off that Jerome can replay Mussorgsky on synthesizers? As a pupil in musical school on an examination, he replayed it errror-free, but without imagination. The same composition was once included in Emerson, Lake and Palmer's programme back in 1971. ELP was a progressive band whose music even if difficult, was completely new and unique. No one played like them. And when they performed 'Pictures at an Exhibition', you felt your blood circulate faster in your veins. That was something. Froese adaptation leaves you lukewarm at most.

The next track, 'Firetongues', is the best one on the album. Quite sophisticated - it at least offers something new. At last. Spanish and electric guitars played by a guest musician, Zlatko Perica accompany many changes of mood during the track's over 6 minutes. The composition is very good. It's a pity that the band copied this track to several of their future albums, replayed it over and over again, remixing, mixing and messing with the idea. After ten years of listening to 'Firetongues' in several forms, I am tired to death.

'Galley Slave's Horizon' is a boiled-again version of 'Firetongues', with a beautiful pearl of a melody built in. Indeed, it would be sufficient to do away with the track's 7 minutes of repetitive bim-bam-bom, and make the track three times shorter, with the pearl exposed for us to admire. Much in the vein of the pop bands of the 1980s, 'Galley Slave's Horizon's main theme is incredibly touching. If you would like to listen to more of this type of music, consider the albums of Kombi and Foreigner.

After that, the album enters shallow waters. Incredibly boring 'Death of a Nightingale', 'Twilight Brigade', and 'Jungle Journey' stretch for over twenty minutes. All of these tracks were subjected to mangling in future years. Once you delve deeper into their output of the 90s, you will realize, to your horror, that "Turn of the Tides", a not-bad album on its own, was copied and muted again and again and again. Enough already! We have 2002 and I will not tolerate any remanglings of "Turn of the Tides". Not any more.

The album ends with two long tracks of much lighter texture. One of them is nicely entitled, 'Midwinter Night', however that's all good I can say about this heartless kitsch of a song. The last one, 'Turn of the Tides', begins with polka drumming, to deliver a happy-go-merry tune known from "Lily on the Beach". Lord have mercy. January 18, 2002

Tired of the comparisons to the "old TD"

I am really tired of reading reviews that lament how "awesome" the previous incarnations of TD were compared to the current TD. Old TD? Try 11 minutes of animal noises played over a looping synth crawl. Perhaps cutting edge in 1973 but it's great to know that they aren't still turning out stuff that sounds like they're trying to stay rooted in the early 70's. In my book, it's acceptable for any musician or group to explore different areas, even if these areas aren't considered cutting edge or faithful to previous directions.

I have listened to Turn of the Tides many times over the past 6 years -- it hasn't exactly improved with age, but it also hasn't lost any of the beauty I heard when I first enjoyed it.

"Galley Slave's Horizon" is my favorite track -- I enjoy the tension in it -- moving from sudden leaps and quick rythms to nearly silent pauses as though suspended in flight.

I don't care for the "story" accompanying the concept -- just didn't add anythign to my experience of the music. Otherwise, Turn of the Tides remains one of those CDs I can count on to provide an hour or two of pleasure -- reason enough for me to recommend it. January 31, 2001

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